Matlock 8 Grimsby 18
Grimsby 's unbeaten start to the season continued with an extremely rare away win at Matlock. The Derbyshire side fancied themselves to win the league this year, but a stuttering performance by Grimsby soon put paid to that notion.
It was the home side which started the stronger, with forwards and backs linking very well to spin the ball from one side of the pitch to the other. Grimsby's defence was being stretched to breaking point, and just as it seemed that Matlock had broken through to score, a last ditch tackle caused the Matlock winger to knock the ball on. This allowed Grimsby to relieve the pressure momentarily. Matlock were soon pounding away at the Grimsby line again, until another big hit caused the ball to be turned over, allowing Pharaoh the easy task of jogging the ball back over the line 80 metres away. The conversion was missed, and Grimsby couldn't believe their luck to score against the run of play in such a way.
Matlock were doing well to manage the referee, and spoiled the vast majority of Grimsby ball at the ruck by reaching in or driving in at the side. The Matlock backline was also either the quickest bunch ever seen in a non international match, or more likely, yards offside at every opportunity. Fly half Bradley noted their sudden rushes, and used a little chip over to slow them down on several occasions.
This helped Grimsby to settle and they started to try and put phases of possession together, A series of good rucks saw Bradley kick across the pitch for the gazelle like Martin to rise up and take, before crashing down to earth over the line for a nicely worked try. Saunders converted the tricky kick successfully.
Grimsby still weren't able to fully impose their game plan on the opposition, with many mistakes made and an alarming number of knock ons. As the frustration levels grew, Grimsby appeared to lose their discipline and concentration leading to a penalty for Matlock which their kicker duly slotted.
Grimsby started to take the ball on more and more, with the forwards starting to dominate their opposite numbers. Unfortunately they had left it too late this half, and the whistle went for half time and a stern talking to from Captain Edwards.
As the 2 nd half commenced, it became obvious that Grimsby had started to pull themselves together. The forwards were driving with purpose, and the backs handling was looking crisper. A nice move on the Grimsby 22 started a situation however, that was to end in disaster. A lovely inside pass from Bradley saw Slosmanis able to steam away into space, and after a staggering 40 metre run, a neat pop up pass to Pharaoh should have seen the diminutive chap easily score. Unfortunately this was not to be the case, as the scrum half was about to catch the ball, an accidental contact with the referee caused Pharaoh to lose his footing and drop the ball. Rather than stopping the game and awarding a scrum to Grimsby as his action had caused the offence, the match official waved for advantage to Matlock be played, and the home side duly hoofed the ball deep into the Grimsby 22. With several Matlock players converging, fullback Saunders went for the clearance kick. It wasn't to be best ever, in fact, many would claim it was the worst ever seen rolling about 10 metres along the ground. The Matlock winger picked it up and after drawing the last defender, passed out wide to his support to flop over the line. As the Matlock player dropped towards the ground, Bradley attempted to dislodge the ball from his grasp with his boot from underneath, but was unsuccessful and in fact resulted in him breaking his left leg. The game had to be stopped to await medical treatment, as the player couldn't be removed from the pitch. With the ambulance having to be summoned from Chesterfield , the delay stretched to 1 hour before the game could restart. The conversion was missed, but the home team were only 4 points behind, and Grimsby had to radically restructure their squad to cover for the injured Bradley.
This enforced change meant a slight change in tactics, and the Grimsby started to play the game tighter. This lead to several quick phases, with wave after wave of Blue forwards charging at the Matlock defence. This eventually led to Grimsby forcing a penalty deep in the Matlock half, which Saunders subsequently kicked.
Matlock responded extremely well to this, and worked deep into the Grimsby 22, before setting up a very effective driving maul over the line. Unfortunately for them, the referee was unable to see the ball, and instead of a try awarded them a scrum quite a harsh decision as the ball had obviously been grounded! Grimsby held the scrum well, and as the Matlock backs attempted to run in a score, several big tackles saw the ball turned over and pressure cleared.
The home sides' heads had started to drop, and a series of niggly moments eventually led to Barker being awarded a yellow card and 10 minutes rest, apparently for showing good rucking technique!!
Grimsby continued to press, and a blatant offside in front of the posts allowed Saunders to kick for the extra 3 points. No further scores were coming, and Grimsby had won away from home despite a rather lacklustre performance.
However Matlock is a very difficult place to come and claim a victory, especially with the game being distracted with the injury to Bradley.
This week sees Grimsby playing Notts Moderns at Springfield Road , which promises to be an exciting game. Kick Off is 3pm and the bar is open from 2pm for interested parties. The team would like to see a good home crowd cheer them on!